Vaporizer bowl construction

ABSTRACT

A vaporizer bowl construction for use in combination with a vaporizer head including a cap having a heating chamber depending therefrom and having a steam outlet in communication with the heating chamber. The heating chamber has an opening therein for receiving liquid from the vaporizer bowl. The vaporizer bowl comprises a container having an opening for receiving in suspended relation within the bowl a separable double walled insulating chamber assembly. The heating chamber is removably suspended within the insulating chamber assembly in spaced relation to the inner wall thereof. In one embodiment an upwardly extending rib on the bowl bottom extends between the walls of the insulating chamber to form a bottom closure therefor. In a further embodiment the rib engages the inner wall of the insulating chamber.

United States Patent [151 3,705,415 Katzman et a1. [45] Dec. 5, 1972 s41 VAPOR IZER BOWL CONSTRUCTION 2,533,794 12/1950 Hanks et al...., ..219/29o x [72] Inventors: Lawrence K811111811, 101 Central FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Park West, New York, N.Y. 10023; Edward Briggin 720 East 1 4 452,151 5/1968 Switzerland ..2l9/285 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11228 Primary Examiner-A. Bartis Notice: The portion of the term of this An s Goldfarb patent subsequent to Oct. 4, 1988,

has been disclaimed. [57] ABSTRACT Filedl 1971 A vaporizer bowl construction for use in combination with a vaporizer head including a cap having a heating [21] Appl' 113543 chamber depending therefrom and having a steam outlet in communication with the heating chamber. [52] US. Cl. ..219/27l, 21/119, 219/284, The heating chamber has an opening therein for 219/314 receiving liquid from the vaporizer bowl. The 511 1m. 01. ..I-l05b 3/60, A61m 15/00 vaporizer bowl comprises a container having an p [58] Field of Search ..219/271-276, 284-295, ing for receiving in suspended relation within the bowl 1 14; 21/119 a separable double walled insulating chamber as sembly. The heating chamber is removably suspended [56] References Cited within the insulating chamber assembly in spaced relation to the inner wall thereof. In one embodiment an UNITED STATES'PATENTS upwardly extending rib on the bowl bottom extends 1 1 between the walls of the insulating chamber to form a Dubersteln et al. bottom closure therefor- In a further e bodi e the 2,847,547 Gordon i g g the inner wall the i i g chamber. 3,518,409 6/1970 Corbett ..2l9/284 X 3,610,879 10/1971 Katzman et a1 ..219/271 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures I L \L 52 i I VAPORIZER BOWL CONSTRUCTION This invention relates to electric steam vaporizers for therapeutic use, and more particularly to a vaporizer bowl construction including a novel insulation chamber. This application is co-pending with U.S. application Ser. No. 884,911, filed Dec. 15, I969, for Insulated Heating Chamber for Vaporizers, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,879, granted Oct. 5, 1971.

In the past, electric steam vaporizers have been produced which employ a pair of spaced electrodes mounted in a heating chamber for converting water into steam. The heating chamber is for the purpose of substantially instantaneously heating the water to change the water into steam and is arranged so that the water in the main container of the vaporizer bowl can flow into the heating chamber to maintain the level of the heating chamber as the steam is produced. Such a heating chamber is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,046.

One of the main drawbacks of this arrangement is that the heating chamber is surrounded by the water in the bowl which surrounding water is thereby heated through heat transfer from the heating chamber and thus the temperature of the water in the bowl can rise to an unsatisfactory extent. In conventional electric steam vaporizers the prolonged use thereof for periods up to twenty-four hours will cause the water exterior of the heating chamber often to become heated to 140 F. or even as high as 145 F. Various types of complicated attachments and insulated heating chamber constructions have been utilized in the past, but because-of the conduction between the several parts of the insulated heating chambers, temperatures have been reduced only a few degrees as, for example, to a temperature in the order of 125 F. However, because the present invention employs a separate insulating assembly, the inner wall of which is spaced from the heating chamber, a surprisingly and unexpectedly great reductionof the highest temperatures occurring has been made to the extent that the highest temperature of the water exterior of the insulating chamber will be in the order of 100 F;

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a vaporizer bowl construction which will result in the operating temperature of the water exterior of the heating chamber being reduced to safe limits in the order of approximately 100 F.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an insulating heating chamber which is simple in construction, which can be molded in a single integral unit out of readily available synthetic plastic materials and which may be readily removed from the container to permit for easy access to the container to permit washing and scouring thereof.

Still further objects and features of this invention reside in the provision of a vaporizer bowl construction that will insure safe operation of the electric steam vaporizer and which will eliminate the use of any barrier or buffer necessary between the vaporizer and any article of furniture on which it is placed, which is durable, and which is simple to manufacture by mass production methods.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of the present invention, which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this vaporizer bowl construction, preferred embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, by way of example only, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating details of construction of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail view illustrating a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail view illustrating an additional modified form of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a vaporizer bowl constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; and,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the vaporizer bowl construction looking along the plane of line 6-6 in FIG. 5, with parts thereof being broken away to show details of construction.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, reference numeral 10 generally designates a vaporizer head of the 7 type disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,046, which includes a cap having a heating chamber 12 depending therefrom and a steam outlet 14. The bottom 13 of the heating chamber 12 preferably has one or more openings therein through which water can enter the heating chamber 12.

The vaporizer head 10 is inserted into the container 16 of the vaporizer bowl. The container 16 has a peripheral flange 18 which may be offset downwardly and by its peripheral edge 20 defines an opening into which the heating chamber 12 is inserted.

In accordance with the concepts of the present invention, an insulating chamber 22 surrounds the heating chamber 12 and has its inner wall 24 spaced therefrom. The inner wall 24 is preferably cylindrical in shape and spaced from the inner wall 24 is an outer wall 26. Integral with the outer wall 26 is a substantially horizontally extending portion 28 forming a flange which rests on the flange 18. The cap 10 in turn rests on the flange 28 and holds the entire assembly in secure position. integrally interconnecting the inner wall 24 and the outer wall 26 is a bottom wall 30 which extends substantially flush with the bottom wall 13 of the heating chamber 12 and only a small distance above the bottom 32 of the container 16.

In use, while the level of the water in the outer portions of the container 16 will surround the heating chamber 12, the insulating chamber 34 will provide an effective means for lowering the temperature of the water inthe outer portions of the container 16.

Referring to the embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, because the insulating assembly 22 may be bouyant, integrally formed with the outer wall 26 is a detent 38 which may extend through a slot 36 formed in the flange of the container and upon rotation of the insulating assembly will lock the insulating assembly in position.

Referring to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, herein the insulating chamber includes an outer wall 52 and an inner wall 54 interconnected by a top wall 56 which includes a flange 58 substantially flush therewith and designed to rest on the flange of the container. The

bottom 59 of the container has a circular rib 60 against which the inner wall 54 can bear so as to align the insulating chamber 50 when it is inserted. In order to permit fluid to pass into the space between the inner wall 54 and the heating chamber 12, an aperture 62 is provided in the outer wall 52 and an aperture 64 oppositely disposed from the aperture 62 is provided in the inner wall 54.

ln FIG. 4, there is shown a modified form of the invention in which the bottom 32 of the container is provided with a rib 66 which extends between the inner and outer. walls, the apertures 68 and 71 in the inner and outer walls being of sufficient size as to permit flow into the space surrounding the heating chamber.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in FlGS. and 6, herein there is disclosed an insulating assembly 70 which includes a cylindrical wall 72 having a flange 73 extending thereabout except at a location where a detent 74 is positioned below the flange 73 and in a manner so as to be passed through the slot 76 which opens into the peripheral edge of the container whereby the insulating assembly 70 may be held in place even when the container is filled with liquid. Surrounding the cylindrical wall 72 is a sleeve 80, the outer surface 78 of which may be suitably coated to prevent deterioration, the sleeve 80 being preferably formed of any suitable insulating material, such as polyurethane foam or the like. The lower edge 82 of the sleeve terminates above the lower edge 84 of the wall 72 which is substantially flush with the lower edge 86 of the heating chamber 12. Openings 88 and 90 are provided for permitting liquid flow into the space between the heating chamber 12 and the wall 72.

It is to be noted that the rib 60 need not be continuous so as to facilitate full utilization of substantially all the liquid at the bottom of the container. Further, a plateau may be centrally provided in the container inwardly of the rib 60.

A latitude of modification, substitution and change is intended in the foregoing disclosure, and in some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

l. A vaporizer construction comprising a removable vaporizer head including a cap having a heating chamber depending therefrom and having a steam out-. let in communication with said heating chamber, said .tensive heating chamber having an opening therein for receiving liquid from said vaporizer bowl, a vaporizer bowl comprising a container having an opening for receiving said heating chamber, said opening being defined by a peripheral edge, an insulating chamber assembly separate from said heating chamber and substantially coextensive with said heating chamber and including a substantially horizontal portion overlying said edge, at least a portion of said cap overlying said horizontal portion with said heating chamber received within said insulating chamber, said insulating chamber further including an inner wall'integral with said horizontal portion for surrounding said heating chamber in spaced relation thereto, and an outer wall integral with and depending from said horizontal portion and surrounding said inner wall in spaced relation thereto.

2. A vaporizer construction in accordance with claim 1, wherein said vaporizer bowl includes means for engaging said insulating chamber for holding said insulating chamber in a predetermined position within said bowl, and means permitting liquid flow from said container to said heating chamber.

3. A vaporizer bowl construction in accordance with claim 2, wherein the bottom of the insulating chamber is open and said engaging means includes means on said bowl extending between said inner wall and said outer wall to form a bottom closure for said insulating chamber.

4. A vaporizer comprising a container having an opening, a cap positioned on said container overlying said opening, said cap having a steam outlet therein, a heating chamber secured to and depending from said cap and extending into said container through said opening, said steam outlet being in communication with said heating chamber, an insulating chamber in said container, said insulating chamber being wholly separate from said heating chamber, substantially coextherewith and surrounding said heating chamber, said heating chamber having a liquid intake opening therein, said container having a bottom provided with upwardly extending rib means, said rib means extending into engagement with said insulating chamber for restricting fluid flow from said heating chamber to a location in said container outwardly of said wall, and means in at least one of said insulating chamber and said rib means for permitting liquid flow from said container to said heating chamber intake opening. 

1. A vaporizer construction comprising a removable vaporizer head including a cap having a heating chamber depending therefrom and having a steam outlet in communication with said heating chamber, said heating chamber having an opening therein for receiving liquid from said vaporizer bowl, a vaporizer bowl comprising a container having an opening for receiving said heating chamber, said opening being defined by a peripheral edge, an insulating chamber assembly separate from said heating chamber and substantially coextensive with said heating chamber and including a substantially horizontal portion overlying said edge, at least a portion of said cap overlying said horizontal portion with said heating chamber received within said insulating chamber, said insulating chamber further including an inner wall integral with said horizontal portion for surrounding said heating chamber in spaced relation thereto, and an outer wall integral with and depending from said horizontal portion and surrounding said inner wall in spaced relation thereto.
 2. A vaporizer construction in accordance with claim 1, wherein said vaporizer bowl includes means for engaging said insulating chamber for holding said insulating chamber in a predetermined position within said bowl, and means permitting liquid flow from said container to said heating chamber.
 3. A vaporizer bowl construction in accordance with claim 2, wherein the bottom of the insulating chamber is open and said engaging means includes means on said bowl extending between said inner wall and said outer wall to form a bottom closure for said insulating chamber.
 4. A vaporizer comprising a container having an opening, a cap positioned on said container overlying said opening, said cap having a steam outlet therein, a heating chamber secured to and depending from said cap and extending into said container through said opening, said steam outlet being in communication with said heating chamber, an insulating chamber in said container, said insulating chamber being wholly separate from said heating chamber, substantially coextensive therewith and surrounding said heating chamber, said heating chamber having a liquid intake opening therein, said container having a bottom provided with upwardly extending rib means, said rib means extending into engagement with said insulating chamber for restricting fluid flow from said heating chamber to a location in said container outwardly of said wall, and means in at least one of said insulating chamber and said rib means for permitting liquid flow from said container to said heating chamber intake opening. 